THE COVERUP.

CHAPTER 2

I felt Maya's eyes bore into my own as I stood there outside the bathroom. Slowly, I lifted my eyes and stared back at her, scrutinizing her appearance. From her blank facial expression, I could hardly tell if the young blonde before me was feeling anything at all; for her face showed no sign of emotion. Maya didn't seem hurt or upset in any way, she just looked normal. I didn't understand why she looked the way she did. How was she not hurt or confused from my actions from earlier? I ran through the hallway, hurt myself, and ignored Maya when she tried to help me. If I were her in that position, I would never talk to me ever again.

Questions, thousands of them, were racing through my mind, just at the thought of her being in my presence, staring at me with those bright blue eyes of hers. Slowly, as if I had words to say, I opened my mouth and tried to form a sentence to explain my earlier actions. Without much of a surprise, none came out, yet again, making me look like a fool. Looking down at the ground in disappointment — at myself of course — I sighed, and started to walk towards the blonde girl that continued to stare at me.

"Campbell...what just happened?" Maya finally spoke, using a tone that I expected to be more angry. It turned out to be soft and almost concerned. "You were like, in this panic... What the heck was that?" She continued on, her voice getting a bit louder as the sentence drew on. Yet again, I opened my mouth to speak, or at least gesture a response to my behaviors from earlier.

"That's a really long story, Maya," I stated, looking up from the ground and back up at her. "I have this problem with my team..." I began walking to a row of lockers that were across from the bathroom; leaning against them upon my arrival. "The hockey team said that I'm going to ruin their image as long as I'm here with them. I'm too different from, too shy, too unexperienced...and as much as I want to say something and speak my mind, it's all too hard. I'm afraid of what they'll do to me," I paused in mid sentence, looking over at Maya, who's facial expression seemed to have modified. She almost looked scared, as if she knew what I was going to say next. "The team constantly looks down on me for being this way and I don't know if I can take it all season...I want it to stop before it finally gets to me... So, what I'm trying to say is, if I had a girlfriend, or someone who seemed like they were really into me, maybe the team would stop looking down on me and I'd save the image. So, could you possibly help me with this situation?" I looked at her hopefully, not even sure why I had told her the entire backstory.

Maya looked away from me for a moment, pure fear and shock written all over her face. She moved her hands, almost as if she was thinking of what words to reply back to me, but thought of nothing. Finally, after an intense two minutes of silence, Maya responded. "So, what you're saying is...you want to use me so the hockey team can stop bothering you? You want to use me to fix their image?" She asked, the emotions from a few minutes ago disappearing.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say use..." I responded biting the inside of my cheek in regret. Technically, this did count as using her to accomplish a goal. The idea simply popped into my head as I told my story. "I just need help...and you're the only one I trust here, you're the only friend I have at Degrassi." My eyes clouded for a bit, reminding myself of the loner that I've become since I transferred here. "Can you please help me?"

Maya sighed lightly, looking at the ground and back up at me. "Yeah Campbell, I'll help you," She said, her voice barely above a whisper. Immediately, I broke out into the hugest smile ever. "But," her words intercepted my joy. "We're taking this slow...I don't want a bad reputation after this. I've already dealt with enough." Her voice was serious, but I understood where she was coming from.

The hockey team always talks about stuff that happens to them, most of which I overhear. I often try to ignore their stories, not wanting to get involved in all their nonsense. Unfortunately, I couldn't avoid this certain story about Maya and Owen. A couple weeks back, Maya had stuffed her bra with chicken cutlets — probably because Dallas called her a pancake — and one fell out when she was doing something. Owen, being the bully he is, confronted Maya about it and ended up getting hit with the other cutlet.

"Agreed." I said, holding out my hand for her to shake.

. . .

For the entire walk to French class, I had nothing but worry and panic clouding my thoughts. Not only did I not have the first clue on how to fake a relationship, I had no idea what kind of experience that Maya has as well. Sure, she agreed to do this with me, but does that mean that she has any knowledge on the topic? Does she have anyone that she could go to and talk about this with, someone that would maybe give her a few pointers? Not knowing these little details put the hugest roadblock on my plan.

"Okay, so how are we going to do this? Do you have some kind of plan in mind or are we just winging this?" She asked, looking over at me with those bright blue eyes of hers. They were boring into the side of my head since I refused to look at her. There was no way that I could look into those beautiful eyes of hers and tell her that I had no plan whatsoever. I was the one who dragged her into this with all my hockey team drama. I was the one who made this mess, therefore, I should be the one to fix it and make a plan.

Figuring that I should say something to at least attempt to sound like I knew what I was doing, I opened my mouth, trying to think of words. "Um...well, the thing is, I didn't really plan out all of that." I accidentally admitted, taking my hand and rubbing the back of my head awkwardly. "But I will have one soon, I'm definitely working on it." I tried to clean up the statement, hoping that Maya would buy it.

"Oh yeah, that's no problem," She responded, "however, since this involves the two of us, how about we discuss this together?"

I felt some of the worry lift from my heart upon hearing those words come from her mouth. For not only was she willing to be patient with me when I was coming up with a plan, she was willing to help me. Even though both of us probably had no experience in faking relationships, I had some confidence that we'll be able to plan out something that will help. Since Maya and I may not have any experience in the world of romance, I figured that her friends, probably could point us in the right direction.

"Do you think your friends can give you a few pointers on how to fake a relationship? That could do wonders." I asked Maya, watching her face light up at the thought.

"Now that you mention it, my best friend Tori has a boyfriend. I can just ask her what she and Zig do, and boom!" Maya exclaimed, obviously proud of her realization.

"Fantastic!" I exclaimed, happy that someone was able to help us out. "Just make sure that she doesn't know that we're faking this...I mean, if word gets out about this, we're toast." I told her seriously, holding the door for her as we arrived at our French class. She nodded in response to my statement and walked over to her friends, joining in on their conversation immediately.

I made my way over to my seat in the back of the room, plopping into it upon my arrival. Before I could even thought of possible responses that Tori would give Maya as far as relationship advice, I already heard her loud voice break the quietness of the room, "Oh my gosh was that you and Campbell Saunders walking to class together? Are you two like an item now?" The curly haired brunette squealed loudly, clapping her hands together.

"Whoa, whoa, hold the phone. You mean Campbell Saunders. The, Campbell Saunders." Tristan, Maya's best friend — Owen's little brother — jumped into the conversation, clearly sounding interested.

"Sh, Tristan, I'm pretty sure he can hear you," Maya scolded him as she turned over to Tori. "No Tori we're not. We just happened to be walking here at the same time from lunch. Gosh."

"Oh please Maya, I know you have a thing for him. I can see it in your eyes." Tori teased her, causing my eyebrow to quirk upwards. She was into me? No way.

"No, I don't, stop coming up with the insane idea that I do." Maya groaned, slapping herself on the forehead, audible enough for me to hear it. "Can you just help me with something before our teacher shows up? Please?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, sure."

"How do you and Zig act around each other? What do you two do that makes you a couple?" Maya asked smoothly.

"Well, whenever I'm around Zig, he always holds my hand and treats me like a Princess. He'll whisper sweet things in my ear when we're alone, kiss my cheek, and a he'll do a whole bunch of other things," She replied in a lovestruck teenage girl kind of way. "Why did you want to know? You usually hate it when Zig and I do that."

"Oh no reason, thanks."

. . .

"All right take your seats, class is officially starting," Our teacher stated quickly as she sped walked into the classroom. "You all have a truckload of work to do," She continued to say, walking up to the board and writing down our assignments in French. Most of the assignments listed were the ones that were given to us yesterday, all of which I finished. Basically today was a free class period, one that I would use to plan out me and Maya's fake relationship. "Now, if you haven't noticed, this work is all from yesterday, so if you're not Campbell or Maya you need to get working, it's being collected today so get it finish." She shooed us off, walking over to her desk and sitting down.

Just as I was about to get up and walk over to Maya's seat, the blonde girl approached me with her stuff. "Oh hey there." I commented, a slight smirk stretching across my face. "So are you ready to discuss this whole game plan since we both happen to have a free period now?" I asked her.

"Of course, let's get this started." Maya replied, shooting a smirk right back at me. "So I'm guessing that you heard all the stuff that Tori and Tristan had said, they were talking rather loud..." Maya assumed, running her fingers through the ends of her hair in a slightly nervous manner. I nodded in response, laughing lightly at her friend's actions, knowing that Maya must've been embarrassed that they broadcasted their conversation to the whole class. "Okay so now that we know what we should do, how about we try to do something that'll break the ice between us? You know, since we hardly know anything about each other." She suggested, biting the corner of her lip.

"Yeah, that sounds like a fantastic idea. How do you suppose we go about this, you know, this whole icebreaker thing?" I inquired, leaning on the desk, clearly interested in what Maya had to say.

"Oh you know, we could play a little get to know you game that gives a short explanation of ourselves. That way, if the hockey team ever asks one of those couple questions we have something to say. It'll create a better illusion and make this fake relationship last longer." Maya explained to me, nodding cofidently. Based on how confidently Maya stated her plan, I could tell that she definitely was all into this whole fake relationship. Having her as my partner for this was by far the best thing that's ever happened here.

"Sounds like you have this all planned out," I replied, a smirk stretching across my face again. Surely, she could tell that I was impressed by her effort. "How about we play this getting to know you game before I have hockey practice today? That way, we could show off what we know to the hockey players when they get there," I suggested, coming up with a plan of my own since Maya seemed to inspire me to do so. "If you choose to say yes, I'll be in the new garden area. The hockey team takes that route whenever we have after school practice."

"Sounds fantastic, I guess I'll see you there." Maya said, just as the bell rang, informing us that class was over and it was time to go to our final period of the day.

As I watched Maya walk away with that confident stride of hers, I couldn't help but notice how much I've already changed since I renewed our friendship and established this fake relationship. I was already talking with much more confidence. I was suggesting things of my own, putting my ideas out there, and just making myself heard. I wasn't sure how Maya was affecting me so quickly, but I wasn't going to complain about it, I was already doing better.

. . .

At the end of the school day, I made my way over the garden area, already seeing Maya sitting on a bench and staring up at the sky. Immediately, I checked my watch, looking at the time to see if I was late or not. It was three o'clock, just couple minutes after school ended. I wasn't late, but I wasn't early. Deciding to shake off that whole thing, I approached Maya and sat next to her on the wooden bench. "Hey Maya," I greeted her casually, feeling my odd confidence start to show. "Were you waiting long?"

"Oh no, I just got here a couple seconds before you did." Maya answered, looking away from the sky and over at me. "So, ready to play the game, I know I am." She asked excitedly and I nodded in response. "Okay, technically, this isn't a game, but you know, it could be like one if you use your imagination. One of us names a random topic— a really broad and vague topic — and the other responds with the first thing that comes to their head. Now, with the thing that we respond with, we have to give a story about. Sound cool?" She explained to me, and I nodded yet again.

"Sounds awesome...want me to start?" I asked her, noticing how energetic she seemed to be. Maya nodded, turning to face me. "Music." I stated simply.

"Music. Oh how I love music. I've been playing and reading it for as long as I could remember, it's my entire life. The cello is my main instrument, and it's the instrument that I use for the band that I'm in called Whisperhug." Maya informed me, a bright smile gracing her face. "Now, your turn...I'll make it easy for you since you unknowingly made it easy for me — sports."

I smirked slightly. "Hockey. For as long as I could remember I was playing hockey, whether it was out on the street with my older brother Justin or out on the ice after I learned how to skate. Hockey is my entire life, and it always will be," I informed Maya, looking away from her and staring out into the bright blue sky. I was graced with the memories of home; how my brother and I would play hockey in the middle of the street — I was always stuck with being goalie. Justin would fire shot after shot right at my face, knowing that I wouldn't be able to block it at all, and it hurt so bad. Every day, Justin and I would go back outside and play hockey, doing the same thing over and over until I finally got better. I finally learned how to block the shots, improved my sticking and overall became a better hockey player. That moment was probably the best day of my life.

"Wow...that's just how music is to me...my whole life." Maya informed me, in a dreamy tone. She too, was in a world of thought, recalling the past and all its splendor. For a moment, there was silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a comfortable one. Something that was bearable. We were both lost in a world of thought, and that was completely okay. "Campbell...the Ice Hounds, they're here." Maya broke the silence, pulling my elbow to get my attention. "Do something that a couple would do." She insisted.

Nervousness decided to make its regular appearance, completely wiping away all confidence that I once had. "Um, I'm going to whisper something in your ear, can you just giggle or something?" I asked her quickly, getting a quick nod in response. "All right here it goes."

With a slightly shaky hand, I took a strand of Maya's hair and moved it out of the way of her ear. I then leaned over to it and whispered the most idiotic thing I could think of. "She sell sea shells down by the sea shore." I whispered the tongue twister, hearing an oddly realistic laugh coming from Maya. It didn't sound as if she was faking it at all.

"Looks like the rookie learns fast..." Dallas' spoke up, walking to Maya and I with the team in toe. "Oh hey there, I knew you liked her, you little liar!" He exclaimed reaching out his hand and ruffling my hair. "Practice starts in a few minutes, kiss your little girlfriend goodbye and let's go," He commanded me, walking away with the team right after.

I watched the team walk away from the two of us with that strong confident walk of theirs, sighing silently, when they were a good distance away. That was way too close. "Well, that was pretty easy," Maya mused, breaking the silence yet again. "You're not going to kiss me are you? That would be, just a little weird." She informed me, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

Immediately, I felt my cheeks turn a slight pink, not exactly because I wanted to kiss her but because I felt as if she wanted me to kiss her. Knowing that the hockey team was probably watching me and listening intently, I had to play it off. There was no room for my nervousness, although I felt more nervous than ever. "Oh no, we're not going to do any of that, unless," I leaned back, putting my arm around the back of the bench —inadvertently and arm around her — looking at her with a severely nervous face. "You want to..."

There was a dramatic shift in tension as the two of us sat there on the bench, wondering the same topic, should we kiss to end this hanging out. Sure, we're both completely nervous about this, but should we even attempt to do so just to appease the hockey team? Clearly, minutes ago, Maya and I were acting like a complete couple that was getting to know each other. It wasn't flirty, it was simply casual. It may have not been how normal couples would get to know each other, but it was definitely a variation.

"Oh no, it's fine, we don't have to do all that. I mean, we hardly know each other and all." Maya told me, nervousness etched in her voice. "Go have fun at practice. It was fun hanging out for that short amount of time."

I nodded in acceptance, part of me just wanting to kiss her right then. I liked her, she probably didn't like me — although Tori says otherwise — but something felt like it was there. "Yeah, right. I'll see you later then," Without any thought at all, I leaned over and just touched my lips on her cheek, kissing it briefly. I didn't even realize that I did that until it was too late. "Well, I'll see ya." I said, deciding to play it off. I got up from the bench quickly and walked away.

As I neared the hockey team, who was standing outside the building where our practice room was; I briefly turned around to look at where I once was. There I saw Maya still sitting there, turned back at me.

Her hand was on her cheek and a smile was on her face.